S. Mindanao employers want COLA hike instead

DAVAO CITY — Employers in Southern Mindanao would rather adjust the cost-of-living allowance (COLA) of workers rather than increase their daily minimum wage.

The Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (DCCCII), which represents the business sector in the regional tripartite wage and productivity board, vowed to oppose any move to increase the minimum wage for regional workers.

The wage board is expected to come up with a new wage order within the month following the strong clamor for a wage adjustment due to the spiraling prices of basic commodities.

The DCCCII described the COLA adjustment as a "win-win" solution that would benefit private sector workers in Southern Mindanao, arguing that increasing the minimum wage might trigger layoffs, closure of businesses, and even capital flight.

According to the business sector, it is best that the regional minimum wage, now pegged at P224 plus COLA, stays with the COLA merely adjusted.

The DCCCII added that any wage increase would be detrimental to the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which comprise 99.6 percent of businesses in the region.

However, the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) opposed the proposed COLA adjustment and insisted that a legislated wage hike of P125 be implemented.

Omar Bantayan, KMU Southern Mindanao secretary-general, said the regional wage board "has become a mockery (and) a tool (of the) government to make beggars out of the thousands of workers in the region. The (wage board) should instead be abolished."

The business sector in Southern Mindanao also asked Congress to reconsider its position on the legislated P125 across-the-board wage increase, saying the move would eventually kill the remaining businesses in the region.